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your mtDNA will typically be identical to that of your ancestors for the first 10-15 generations
From mother to child
Female line testing
Mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA is inherited only from mother to child. Due to its peculiar mode of inheritance through the mother, mtDNA can be used to determine the genealogical relationship between two or more individuals (men or women) living today through the direct female line.
Mitogroups in the deCODEme Complete Scan
The deCODEme Complete Scan uses 163 SNPs from the mtDNA to determine your place in the genealogical tree that connects all humans through the direct female line. We classify your mtDNA into one of 27 basic branches (mitogroups) on this tree. However, the SNPs we test allow for a much finer classification into hundreds of different smaller branches. Where do you belong in the great human female line genealogy?
“Mitochondrial Eve”
Ultimately, all humans can trace their mtDNA through the direct female line to a single female ancestor, playfully named “mitochondrial Eve”. This important female ancestor is thought to have lived in Africa some 190 thousand years ago. Each of the mitogroups in the female line genealogy represents a different line of descent from “mitochondrial Eve”. Your mitogroup can tell you not only how you are related to other people in the direct female line, it also provides information about the role your mitogroup ancestors played in the colonization of the world thousands of years ago.
This content was last reviewed on February 18, 2010.
‘The more information we can get the better we can protect ourselves.’
Pam Bale,
deCODEme customer
‘I have lots of cholesterol problems, but it’s not from my lifestyle… most of my problems are hereditary.’
Cheryl Click,
deCODEme customer
